by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Chris Buescher picked up the 4th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway when his #17 Fastenal Ford crashed after 27 of 267 laps.

The finish, which came in Buescher’s 296th series start, was his first of the season and first since August 28, 2021 at Daytona, 85 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 33rd for the #17, the 664th from a crash, and the 738th for Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 51st for the #17, the 1,029th for Ford, and the 1,367th from a crash.

Since he was last featured in an article on this site, Chris Buescher and the Roush effort have both shown tremendous improvement. The investment of Brad Keselowski, who came over from Penske Racing to drive as Buescher’s teammate, led to an impressive night at Bristol where both drivers dominated the event and Buescher won for the first time since 2016. Last season, Buescher stormed to three wins in 2023, capped by a 1-2 finish with he and Keselowski in the Playoff finale at Daytona. After missing the cut at the Clash, the debut of Ford’s Mustang “Dark Horse” has this year seen Buescher finish 18th in Daytona and 9th in Atlanta, both lead-lap finishes.

Buescher arrived in Las Vegas as the 10th-fastest car in practice, then jumped to the fastest car in Round 1 of qualifying with a lap of 184.080mph (29.335 seconds). In Round 2, he slipped to 9th with a lap of 182.927mph (29.520 seconds), losing the pole to Joey Logano.

Securing the 37th and final starting spot was J.J. Yeley and the NY Racing Team, which returned to the circuit for the first time since they narrowly missed the Daytona 500 field in Race 1 of the Duels. Yeley carried sponsorship from both the Urban Youth Racing School and Chevrolet, the white graphics applied directly to the car’s carbon-fiber body with no wrap beneath. It was also noted that the term “Ethanol” was misspelled on the decal around the fuel inlet. The car twice failed inspection before it cleared, resulting in the ejection of crew chief Bryan Berry.

Three drivers joined Yeley at the tail end of the field, starting with Ryan Preece, who spun in Turn 2 in practice and slapped the outside wall with the driver’s side, forcing him to a backup #41 HaasTooling.com Ford. Yeley, Preece, and 35th-place Justin Haley in the #41 Ohanafy Ford didn’t turn a lap in qualifying and would incur redundant penalties – Haley’s for a new steering rack. Also docked was 20th-place Ross Chastain, whose #1 Kubota Chevrolet needed a new wrap on the hood of his Chevrolet after some of it came off while speeding around the windy track. Coming to the green flag, Yeley was lined up behind Haley on the inside line with Chastain and Preece trailing the outside.

Standing alone on the inside of the 19th row, Yeley was last across the stripe, 3.311 seconds behind the leader to Preece’s 3.292 to his outside. By the time the field completed Lap 1, the gap between the two increased to 0.448, then 0.997 on Lap 3 with Derek Kraus, making his Cup debut, slipping to 36th in the #16 Western States Flooring Chevrolet. That time down the backstretch, Zane Smith’s #71 Focused Health Chevrolet snapped loose on the backstretch and bounced off the outside wall, causing him to slow in the high lane off Turn 4. Unable to make it to pit road, he was caught by Yeley just before the line, putting him in last by a margin of 0.035 second. Smith made it to pit road for repairs, and was down to the final seconds on his “Crash Clock” when the first caution fell on Lap 10. Christopher Bell’s #20 Interstate Batteries Toyota cut down a right-rear tire entering Turn 1, and NASCAR drew the caution for possible fluid on the track.

Under this caution, with less than 30 seconds left on the clock, Smith returned to the track and finally completed his fourth lap on the 11th circuit. On Lap 16, Smith cleared minimum speed, passing Yeley’s car in the process, but remained in last place, five laps down. By Lap 23, both Smith and Yeley were trailing the pack, Yeley running 4.367 seconds behind new 35th-place runner Todd Gilliland in the #38 gener8tor Ford.

On Lap 28, Buescher was running in 7th, having taken right-side tires only under the Bell caution. But entering Turn 1, the loose lug nut came off his right-front wheel, followed by the rim, the inner flange carved off by the caliper. Buescher struck the wall hard enough to force a red flag for a welding crew to apply a patch to the spot, but was able to make it back to pit road. The crew noted “right-front’s killed, upper control arm,” and NASCAR called for a tow truck to bring the #17 behind the wall. On Lap 30, the tow truck arrived, then completed a 270-degree turn into the opening close directly behind theirs at Stall 14. Buescher took last from Smith on Lap 33, the first car out of the race.

Checked and released from the infield care center, Buescher said there was no warning before the wheel came loose, which is a big difference from the old five-lug design that caused a vibration. He also expressed excitement about next week’s race in Phoenix, thanks to what the team put together for their planned Championship Four bid last year.

Smith climbed no further than 36th, though he briefly traded positions with eventual 35th-place finisher Bubba Wallace. Wallace qualified 5th and enjoyed a solid run in his #23 Columbia Sportswear Company Toyota until his left-front lug nut became stuck, forcing a three-tire stop. He then pitted under green and spent more than 10 laps on pit road for the lug nut to be cut away and replaced. Last-place starter Yeley finished 34th, seven laps ahead of Wallace, while Bell only managed 35th after he spun following his earlier tire failure.

The 2023 rookie class shines in Vegas

Last year’s Rookie of the Year contestants Ty Gibbs and Noah Gragson both enjoyed strong finishes as they came home 5th and 6th, respectively. For Gibbs, whose #54 He Gets Us Toyota had a bad pit stop and lost first gear, it was his first top-five finish since last fall on the Charlotte “Roval.” For Gragson, it was one spot short of his career-best 5th at Daytona in 2022, and already his second top-ten run of the year in the #10 Fanttik Ford.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #17 in a Cup Series race at Las Vegas since March 1, 2009, when Matt Kenseth lost the engine on his #17 USG Ford after 6 laps, ending a streak of two consecutive victories.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

37) #17-Chris Buescher / 27 laps / crash / led 2 laps

36) #71-Zane Smith / 254 laps / running

35) #23-Bubba Wallace / 254 laps / running

34) #44-J.J. Yeley / 261 laps / running

33) #20-Christopher Bell / 265 laps / running

2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Kaulig Racing, RFK Racing, Spire Motorsports (1)

2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (2)

2nd) Ford (1)

2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP